California lawmakers and the Air Resources Board were set to require all schools to go electric by 2024, but for rural schools, the feat was not reasonable, and Morgan Nugent, Superintendent of the high school, spoke out about the disparity rural schools have when it comes to the mandate, recognizing the state “just doesn’t get it.”
Nugent explained that one electric bus can make a round trip of 80 miles before it needs to be charged, and finding a charging station is already one hurdle that has to be overcome as the number of these locations remains limited.
Other challenges include the extended time it would take to get students to and from away games. Nugent said it would take multiple connecting busses to make the distance and extend the travel time, taking students away from the classroom for longer periods of time and getting them back home in the dead of night.
Morgan was able to raise his voice loud enough to be heard by State business officers, board officials, and Assemblywoman Megan Dahle, who assisted in “shutting down” the CARB board to postpone the arrival of e-buses by another 13 years to 2036.
For now, until more infrastructure and technology come into play, the idea of electric buses will be much more reasonable for rural schools to accommodate the green initiative.
